Mercedes: Rosberg One Second Faster than Hamilton on Long Runs
Despite a few hydraulic issues, Nico Rosberg had a significantly better Friday than his teammate. First in both sessions, the German driver was also much faster on the long runs.
A hydraulic problem occurred on Nico Rosberg’s car during the first two sessions. His morning session was particularly disrupted. However, even with less running than his teammate, the German driver showed a very solid pace on a single lap (four-tenths ahead in FP2) as well as on long runs.
Nico Rosberg therefore experienced a mixed but undamaged Friday: « It was a difficult start with the problem in Free Practice 1 – but it was incredible to see the team get my car back on track before the end of the session. It really was a great job by them. I thank them very much for that. I was then able to push for a few laps just at the end of the session, fortunately. In the afternoon, things went a bit better but there were still some small issues here and there, and the car wasn’t perfect to drive either. It’s a very demanding circuit with very different corners and we still have a lot of work to do to find the right settings. »
On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton would have undoubtedly wished for a different start to the Grand Prix for his home race. During the second session, the world champion seemed noticeably annoyed by the behavior of his car. He was almost a second behind Nico Rosberg during the long runs. “Overall, it was a good day, but not perfect. But the pace is acceptable,” summarized the Englishman. “I don’t have the ideal balance on the long runs and still have some work to do on the settings. (…) Ferrari seems strong once again here and they were just behind us today. So it should be a good battle.”
Paddy Lowe, the executive director of Mercedes for the technical side, confirms that Mercedes has not yet found the best settings. There would therefore still be a good margin for improvement for the Silver Arrows: « The balance of both cars posed a little problem. We tried some setup changes to find the right direction. We have a lot of work tonight to succeed in putting our drivers in the best conditions in anticipation of what promises to be a close battle this weekend ». Moreover, the race should take place in cooler conditions than Friday, which could disrupt the teams’ settings.
